Monday, December 21, 2009

Remington 870 Express

I've been getting a lot of hits on the posting Remington 870 Express and just this morning I realized that I had first talked about that shotgun in September 2005. When I bought the shotgun it had some kind of weird camo pattern on the stock, so I took it apart, stripped the paint, and finished it with hand-rubbed linseed oil. Then, I put a Choates extension on the magazine tube, then I decided I didn't like it with the extension and went back to a standard length tube. The shotgun has remained in pretty much that configuration ever since. I did add a carry strap.

When I was younger, growing up, we very seldom saw a carry strap on a shotgun. That wasn't the fashion. As times have changed, I've come to appreciate some sort of strap on every long gun. It really helps when you've in the woods and this shotgun is a woods gun.

It's got a smooth bore slug barrel with rifle sights. Surprisingly, it's got choke tubes. Originally, I bought this gun for law-enforcement work, and it's seen its share of that. It still rides with me on the occasions where I think it might be useful, but nowadays it's primarily a sporting shotgun. There have been several cases of target ammo run through it on the various clays courses. It shoots to point-of-aim with slugs and the sights center the pattern nicely at normal shotgun ranges. This shotgun would make a really nice deer gun for those places where the range is short and for those places where rifles aren't allowed.

This is a pawn-shop shotgun. I'm a big fan of pawn-shop shotguns and I feel that very soon (between Christmas and Easter) there will be some great deals on used shotguns in the pawn shop racks. Last Autumn I bought a nice 870 Express for $200 (vent rib, choke tube barrel) for a gift. I'm always looking for a nice example of a pump shotgun, and if you know your counter guy and can dicker with him, you can generally have your pick of the litter for under $250.00. Sometimes considerably less than $250.00. In either Winchester, Mossberg, or Remington brand, it's hard to beat a good shotgun for dependable value.

3 comments:

I'm in the market (again), I'm hitting the local shops and one guy told me he expects to have 20-30 turn in patrol 870s in a few weeks. They will be banged up externally, but little to no actual firing... I figure I can get one for $200 or less, and it will work fine for HD work.

I have one I won in a gun show raffle back in '93; it came with the 26" barrel, and I later bought the Remington 20" slug barrel. Since then I found a Mossberg-built 18.5" 'riot' type barrel (blue, not parked, but that's OK) so it now serves as the 'house gun'. Never used it for hunting, just clays and "plinking". I haven't decided what to do as far as a sling or ammo carry.

Mine has dimples inside the magazine tube that prevent an extended tube from actually working; the follower won't move any further forward unless you do something to remove those dimples; I understand this is something specific to the "Express" guns.

I wish we could get guns at the few pawn shops around here. Ill Annoy isn't big on such freedoms or the market support for them.

About Me

I'm a grandpaw who has lived a life of adventure, and resent having to slow down. I've been a Tank Commander, a Company Commander, an MP. My main career has been law enforcement, with 30 years and counting. At this stage of my life, the most important people in my life call me PawPaw. You've come to PawPaw's House. Sit back and enjoy.
Email me at ddezendorf at yahoo dot com (all spambots must die)